Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.

Top Chef All Stars: Jimmy Fallon brings the funny

Ah, Top Chef. At this point in the competition, things are getting particularly good and particularly sad, because it means saying goodbye to a really good chef who’s been around. I thought about laughing, I thought about crying, I really liked this episode.

Let’s focus on the positive first. We got to spend most of this episode with the hilarious Jimmy Fallon (I’m a fan, ok?! If you don’t like him, I don’t want to hear it. Haters to the left.) He is one of the few people on TV who unashamedly joyful and was completely excited to interact with the chefs, taste their cooking and serve as a guest judge. He admitted that he and his wife watch the show habitually, which just makes me want to hang out with the Fallons rather than watching alone here with a bowl of Goldfish crackers and a soda.

Moving on, the unofficial theme of this episode is fun food, and the chefs got goofy to go along with it.

Quickfire challenge: Make a unique fondue

Ah, the fondue challenge the week of Valentine’s Day. I see what you’re trying to do there, Bravo.

Although I’ve never been a fan of the concept of fondue, it’s hard to argue against the inherent fun in eating food on a stick. The chefs, as instructed, went beyond traditional cheese and chocolate to create a fondue that seemed to match their cooking styles. Then… they judged each other, a first for the Top Chef quickfires. The winner by votes was Dale, who made a Vietnamese beef “Pho-ndue.”

Elimination challenge: Cook for Jimmy Fallon at his birthday lunch

During a surprise trip to Rockefeller Center, the chefs ended up on the set of the Jimmy Fallon Show. It wasn’t a surprise to us, since the network has been sneaking in clips of Jimmy Fallon’s cute face into all the preview montages. I’ve been waiting for this challenge for a while.

As for the chefs, some were more excited than others:

Oh, Carla. I love you.

What I would do if I were on the Jimmy Fallon show.

As a part of a game on the show, a screen cycled through pictures of Jimmy’s favorite foods. On his call, the chefs snapped a picture of the screen with their cell phone cameras, and whatever dish they captured would be the one they’d make for his birthday lunch. Everybody got pretty standard American fare–cheesesteak, chicken and dumplings, pulled pork sandwiches–except for Antonio, who ended up with beef tongue, but it was for Jimmy Fallon, so she played it off like NBD. Then there was Fabio, who was weirdly intimidated by his assignment of “hambooger”/hamburger.

At the meal, Jimmy and his family (wife, parents, sister, inlaws, coworkers) dined with the judges, eating, laughing and evaluating each dish. Some great food double entendres that would been skipped over during normal episodes got their full glory thanks to Jimmy and sidekick Steve Higgins, who talked about pulling his own pork and experimenting with sausage.

The major disappointments were Richard’s ramen, which wasn’t bad… it just wasn’t anything special. And from a fan’s perspective, Jimmy was waiting for Richard–a favorite the competition–to go all Richard on the dish. But he didn’t. Then there was Fabio’s hamburger, which was more like a meatball, the closest he knows to a burger; Tiffany’s chicken and dumplings, which were really a tortilla soup; and Dale’s cheesesteak, which was too salty.

On the good end, Antonia somehow rocked that beef tongue, Angelo made super-flavorful pork barbecue and Carla came through with the chicken pot pie she was so excited about. Right before service she said, “Nobody can tell me I didn’t make a bombdiggety chicken pot pie.”

And they didn’t. The most excitable contestant in Top Chef history won a cooking segment on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and a trip to Tokyo.

When it came time to talk about the chefs on the bottom, Jimmy fidgeted and curled his eyebrows trying to look serious, but ultimately admitted it was hard for him to critique contestants he was a fan of.

I really thought Tiffany was going home. I thought Tiffany, though she’s our hometown girl, should have gone home. At one point in the judging, it sounded like Tom said, “Tiffany, chicken and dumplings is chicken with a rich sauce and big f&%$ing dumplings. It’s not a clear soup with flat noodles.” He must have said “fluffy,” but I listened to a few times, and it still sounded like he f-bombed. It was that bad.

This is not even defendable as chicken and dumplings.

But Tiffany stays to cook again, and the beloved Italian Stallion Fabio had to hit the road for making a weird, meatloafy burger and curdley cheese sauce.

In Fabio’s words, “hambooger.”

His goodbye was heartfelt, thanking the judges and kissing each of the contestants, but it was also–in true Fabio fashion–completely nonsensical. He yelled things like “I love HImmy Fowlin’!” “The last class of the maestro!” and “You are the only shadow standing in your own sunshine!”

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.